Lawsuit alleges Shannon officials directed police chief to offer deal to woman claiming sexual harassment

SHANNON, Ill. – A lawsuit filed in federal court last month alleges Village officials directed Police Chief Mike Lewis to offer a deal to a woman who claimed she was sexually harassed by a board trustee.

In early September, Village President Ryan Shaner says Lewis was suspended for five days due to job performance.

Last week, Shaner announced he intended to fire Lewis when they met Sep. 16 but the termination letter was never handed over because Lewis voluntarily resigned.

The board voted to release closed session minutes of discussions surrounding Lewis’ job performance dating back to December.

The documents showed there was a consensus among board members to fire Lewis. The board voted 5-0 to formally accept his resignation.

Despite the board’s consensus, this new lawsuit challenges the Village’s narrative by alleging officials ‘exerted pressure’ on Lewis to lie about the details of the alleged offer to the woman. The lawsuit claims Lewis was suspended using ‘false pretenses’ after refusing their demands.

The Village has provided text messages and documents pushing back on this assertion.

But first, let’s review the lawsuit.

The lawsuit.

I’ve chosen to redact the name of the Plaintiff for the purposes of this article due to allegations including sexual harassment.

According to the complaint, the Plaintiff is an active member in the Village of Shannon community, a participant in board meetings and recently ran for Village President.

On May 6, after attending a board meeting, the Plaintiff went to a local bar where Trustees Butch Meinders and Steve Miller arrived shortly after, along with Chief Lewis, according to the complaint.

While having a conversation, the Plaintiff wanted to show the bartender her new tattoo. But ‘immediately’ after pulling her left arm out of her long-sleeve pullover, the complaint alleges Meinders said:

“Here I thought you were going to whip your titties out and flash me.”

After responding that she has never done that in her life and would not perform such an act, the Plaintiff became ‘horrified and embarassed’ and began to leave, according to the complaint.

As the Plaintiff was leaving, the complaint alleges Meinders turned to her and said:

“Sitting next to you all night has me horny, I’m going home to bother my wife.”

After what happened May 6, the complaint alleges Meinders has stated the Plaintiff has, or had, an inappropriate relationship with a fellow member of the community. The Plaintiff claims this is false.

On June 20, the Plaintiff and her husband met with Shaner and Trustee Kyle Ruter to talk about what happened May 6 and afterwards, according to the complaint.

The Village has taken, ‘no action to discipline, censure, or reprimand Meinders for his conduct,’ according to the complaint.

Since May 6, the complaint alleges Meinders told community members he would ‘never be held accountable for his conduct towards Plaintiff,’ and ‘no one would believe Plaintiff’s account of what happened because of his position as Village Trustee.’

Shaner provided me with a document outlining his internal investigation into the May 6 incident showing he interviewed the Plaintiff, Lewis, Miller, the bartender and Meinders. In a statement provided to me Wednesday, Shaner said his investigation concluded June 24 with the following:

“No witness corroborated the allegations in full, and the only independent witness was unable to recall anything of note from that evening other than that all participants appeared to be enjoying themselves.”

The offer.

On June 25, one day after Shaner says his internal inquiry concluded, the complaint alleges Chief Lewis asked the Plaintiff to meet with him, acting on behalf of Ruter who was allegedly the acting president at the time in Shaner’s absence.

The complaint alleges Lewis told the Plaintiff that if she remained silent about Meinders’ conduct, the Village would take action to dismiss, or otherwise ignore, an ordinance violation they issued against her.

The Plaintiff refused to accept the offer, according to the complaint.

On June 26, the Plaintiff ‘sought a variance’ from the Village so she could sell ice cream for one of her businesses. She claims she emailed Shaner and board members about it but they never responded to her request, according to the complaint.

Regarding the claim the Plaintiff’s variance request was ignored, Shaner told me in a statement the claim is, ‘nothing short of an outright and verifiable falsehood.‘

Shaner says he did receive a letter from the Plaintiff but that the letter, ‘merely urged the Village to consider modernizing its zoning code to better accommodate home-based businesses.’ Adding, ‘When that letter was received, the Village was already preparing to review its zoning ordinance as part of a broader ordinance modernization effort.’

Furthermore, since June, the complaint alleges the Village has ‘exerted pressure’ on Lewis to ‘misrepresent’ what he was directed to offer to the Plaintiff on June 25, along with the ‘circumstances surrounding such offer,’ but Lewis refused to ‘falsely state what happened.’

The complaint claims Lewis’ refusal to make false statements about the deal he was directed to offer her in June was the reason he was suspended.

Shaner provided me with text messages from June 25 showing Ruter asking him about making a deal with the Plaintiff.

Ruter to Shaner, 5:12pm
“Chief said he can make this all go away if we let the ice cream go”
“What’s your opinion?”

Shaner to Ruter, 5:49pm
“If we let the ice cream go?”

Ruter to Shaner, 5:52pm
“Yes, just go on vacation. Enjoy yourself and it all goes away. Not the hill worth [dying] on”

Shaner to Ruter, 6:58pm
“You guys cannot approach [Plaintiff] with that ‘deal’ the sexual harassment is not a village issue at this point, but having a village official go and talk to her and try to negotiate a deal via the sexual harassment. Not being more widely reported that makes it a much bigger issue than it is. This will fall apart, and [Plaintiff] will make it public that the village tried to cover it up. It’s better to confront it head on.”

Ruter to Shaner, ~7:00pm
“That’s true.”

Initially, both Ruter and Lewis were written up for offering a deal to the Plaintiff.

Furthermore, the letter states Ruter did not have the authority to take that action, saying it, ‘represents a serious lapse in judgement and a gross overreach of authority.’

RUTER REPRIMAND LETTER Download

Lewis’ reprimand was later rescinded after Ruter told Shaner, ‘Chief Lewis acted only at his behest & would not have acted without his direction,’ according to notes on the crossed-out reprimand letter for Lewis.

Did Shaner intend to fire Lewis because of the Plaintiff’s lawsuit?

Online records for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Western Division show the lawsuit was formally filed on Sep. 16, which is the same day Lewis resigned while meeting with Shaner, but it does not show a specific time.

The Village was unable to produce any valid written reprimands for Lewis.

However, Shaner provided me with signed affidavits from former Village President Bonnie Heckman-Foust, Village Clerk Denise Bormann and Trustee Meinders, stating a written reprimand at one point existed in Lewis’ personnel file but it is now missing.

On Sep. 2, the board discussed that it, ‘might be necessary for the Village President to proceed in taking action to release’ Lewis in their closed session meeting.

On Sep. 9, Village President Ryan Shaner notified the Board of Trustees he suspended Lewis for five days without pay and that he intends to, ‘further investigate the issues brought forward by the board.’

Shaner says he filed a police report against Lewis with the Sheriff’s Office on Sep. 10.

Although details about the police report were not provided, Shaner confirmed to me it involves ‘official business.’

On the morning of Sep. 15, text messages I obtained from Shaner show he reached out to Carroll County Sheriff Ryan Kloepping to inquire if there were any updates in the case or if he had plans to talk to Lewis, stating, in part, ‘His suspension is up tomorrow so I have to take action here shortly.’

On Sep 16, text messages show Shaner contacted Kloepping at 12:21 p.m. saying, ‘I am hoping you or another deputy can be around when I talk with Mr. Lewis tonight.’

SHANER-KLOEPPING TEXTS Download

At 1:27 p.m., Shaner sends a text message to Trustee Miles Manthey to ask if he can be present ‘when I fire him’ sometime between 4 and 5:45 p.m. later that day.

SHANER-MANTHEY TEXTS Download

Trustee Talia Allen is the one who ultimately joins Shaner with Sheriff Kloepping when they meet with Lewis on the evening of Sep. 16, and text messages show she was contacted at 2:37 p.m.

SHANER-TALIA TEXTS Download

Based on available information, there is no evidence to suggest Lewis was approached by Shaner to be fired in connection to the lawsuit filed by the Plaintiff.

Shaner referred me to the closed session minutes for the reasoning behind the need to fire Lewis. He also pointed back to the fact a police report was filed Sep. 10.

Furthermore, Shaner confirmed to me he was told by the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board (ILETSB) there is a separate criminal investigation into Lewis, but did not know any details.

As of Wednesday, there is no record of any criminal charges filed against Lewis.

I’ve submitted a records request with the Sheriff’s Office for a copy of the police report but have not yet received a response.

I also reached out to ILETSB regarding the second criminal investigation against Lewis but have not yet received a response.

Prior to Shannon, Lewis worked full-time with the Tampico Police Department and part-time in Chadwick, according to public records with the ILETSB.

Lewis’ career as a police officer in Illinois dates back to October 2002 in Lanark. He is currently inactive, according to public records with the ILETSB.

I’ve reached out to Lewis multiple times to get his perspective but he never responded.

Click link below to read full complaint.

Note: Allegations, with or without merit, in the following complaint do not involve criminal laws, but instead involve violations of civil laws and the U.S. Constitution.

COMPLAINT AT LAW Download

This is a developing story. Updates will be provided as they become available.